konc wrote on 2024-03-09, 09:44:

wierd_w wrote on 2024-03-09, 06:08:

On anything modern(tm), which has digital audio outputs, the need for a discrete card is basically zero.

As long as you have something with a digital input 😉

OR, Fork out for a converter...
https://www.amazon.com/AUTOUTLET-Optical-Conv … 4347c0cd39&th=1

wierd_w wrote on 2024-03-09, 09:48:

konc wrote on 2024-03-09, 09:44:

wierd_w wrote on 2024-03-09, 06:08:

On anything modern(tm), which has digital audio outputs, the need for a discrete card is basically zero.

As long as you have something with a digital input 😉

OR, Fork out for a converter...
https://www.amazon.com/AUTOUTLET-Optical-Conv … 4347c0cd39&th=1

The quality of a 10 euro/dollar DAC is probably worse than the soundcard's. Make it a 100 euro DAC and yes, you have a clean output without the noise USB can introduce and no compromises on the final analog result. And since OP mentioned "gaming", a better DAC also offers more outputs in case you need to pass-through encoded multichannel audio.

konc wrote on 2024-03-09, 11:05:

wierd_w wrote on 2024-03-09, 09:48:

konc wrote on 2024-03-09, 09:44:

As long as you have something with a digital input 😉

OR, Fork out for a converter...
https://www.amazon.com/AUTOUTLET-Optical-Conv … 4347c0cd39&th=1

The quality of a 10 euro/dollar DAC is probably worse than the soundcard's. Make it a 100 euro DAC and yes, you have a clean output without the noise USB can introduce and no compromises on the final analog result. And since OP mentioned "gaming", a better DAC also offers more outputs in case you need to pass-through encoded multichannel audio.

Here are some analogue loopback tests I made using some cheap external DACs. Keep in mind the fact that the quality of the input device used influences such a test, so comparisons should be made between output devices when tested on the same input device. Things like impedance mismatches also have the potential to influence results

Re: Not so crazy idea : using a Raspberry Pi 4 with jackd , Zita A2J bridge and jack_mixer to make a software S/PDIF mix

Since I was never exposed to a sound card output through a headphone, I may never know what the expected noise reduction a DAC would give. 🤣
I didn't think of any improvement from the ALC892 codec over in a sound card/DAC (except more output options)

Most of my PC's are biased of old office PC's with very basic sound onboard.
I don't notice it in games, but music sounded flat and lifeless (think laptop quality)

I suspect this isn't an issue with even a half decent motherboard aimed at gaming though.
Backward compatibility is the only other reason I don't use onboard.

chinny22 wrote on 2024-03-10, 22:37:

Backward compatibility is the only other reason I don't use onboard.

What kind of problem with backward compatibility onboard sound gives?

BEEN_Nath_58 wrote on 2024-03-11, 07:46:

chinny22 wrote on 2024-03-10, 22:37:

Backward compatibility is the only other reason I don't use onboard.

What kind of problem with backward compatibility onboard sound gives?

There are titles that don't work properly with a lot of non-soundblaster cards. The Simpsons Hit and Run comes to mind, I tried that game with onboard, and multiple non sound blaster cards and they all had issues. There are more titles, but unless you're digging into a deep back catalog you may never encounter one. The Simpsons Hit and Run though was the title that convinced me to make sure I had a real SB in every vintage machine.

Built-in audio in my B550 board is very quiet and cant drive proper headphones so I fixed it with a used Sound Blaster Z.

The problem with digital out is need for high quality DAC somewhere further in chain too.

I've never ran onboard audio - only when I didn't have driver for soundcard and target OS, which happened once, for FreeBSD.
I had Yamahas, EMus, M-Audios, and now I'm on Focusrite.

I'm not sure what difference games should have in this, apart from them sounding 10 times better in my setup because of analogue quality, amplification quality, speakers and setup.

Shagittarius wrote on 2024-03-11, 15:45:

BEEN_Nath_58 wrote on 2024-03-11, 07:46:

chinny22 wrote on 2024-03-10, 22:37:

Backward compatibility is the only other reason I don't use onboard.

What kind of problem with backward compatibility onboard sound gives?

There are titles that don't work properly with a lot of non-soundblaster cards. The Simpsons Hit and Run comes to mind, I tried that game with onboard, and multiple non sound blaster cards and they all had issues. There are more titles, but unless you're digging into a deep back catalog you may never encounter one. The Simpsons Hit and Run though was the title that convinced me to make sure I had a real SB in every vintage machine.

I was talking about EAX and alchemy
Didn't know about Simpsons hit and run though as that is one game in my library

chinny22 wrote on 2024-03-11, 22:58:

Shagittarius wrote on 2024-03-11, 15:45:

BEEN_Nath_58 wrote on 2024-03-11, 07:46:

What kind of problem with backward compatibility onboard sound gives?

There are titles that don't work properly with a lot of non-soundblaster cards. The Simpsons Hit and Run comes to mind, I tried that game with onboard, and multiple non sound blaster cards and they all had issues. There are more titles, but unless you're digging into a deep back catalog you may never encounter one. The Simpsons Hit and Run though was the title that convinced me to make sure I had a real SB in every vintage machine.

I was talking about EAX and alchemy
Didn't know about Simpsons hit and run though as that is one game in my library

If I am remembering correctly I think I also had a problem with "The Wheel of Time". Not sure if that was with onboard sound or a non-SB add-in though.